1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to the field of devices for disposing of plant waste in the form of parts of plants, and primarily in the form of tree branches. More specifically the present invention relates to a pushing tool for manually pushing plant waste into the hopper of a conventional wood chipper apparatus which processes the waste by chopping or grinding it. The pushing tool includes a disposable elongate member made of biodegradable material having a member first end narrow enough for gripping by hand and having a member second end significantly wider than the member first end for abutting and pushing plant waste into a plant waste receiving hopper. The pushing tool is constructed, either by choice of a suitable material or by its configuration, so that the member second end breaks away when the member is placed under substantial tensile loading. As a result, in the event the member accidently becomes caught in the chipper apparatus and is suddenly pulled into the apparatus plant waste fragmenting elements, the member second end simply breaks away from the member first end so that the worker hand gripping the member first end is not pulled into the plant waste fragmenting elements. The tool material is also sufficiently soft and fragile that a conventional wood chipper apparatus can chop or shred it without damage to the plant waste fragmenting elements.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The wood chipper apparatus has been standard equipment for chopping and grinding tree branches and other wood and plant fragments for compact transport to disposal and recycling sites for many years. A problem with using a wood chipper apparatus has been the danger of injury resulting from worker hands and arms being caught and pulled into the plant waste fragmenting elements, since workers often push the wood and plant waste into the plant waste fragmenting elements with their hands. One attempted solution to this safety hazard has been the use by workers of any available board or branch to push waste into the plant waste fragmenting elements. A problem with using random boards and branches has been that they often are not conveniently shaped at their proximal ends for hand gripping and are not wide enough at their distal ends to push against waste efficiently. These make-shift tools may simply slide between branches and other debris rather than pushing it into the wood chipper apparatus. Another problem has been that the distal end of the board or branch can become accidently caught in the plant waste fragmenting elements of the wood chipper apparatus and suddenly pulled into it, sometimes pulling the hand of the worker into the plant waste fragmenting elements with it.
It is thus an object of the present invention to provide a pushing tool for pushing plant waste into the hopper of a wood chipper apparatus so that worker hands remain safely distanced from plant waste fragmenting elements.
It is another object of the present invention to provide such a pushing tool which is wider at the tool distal end than at the tool proximal end to more efficiently and broadly push waste into the wood chipper apparatus.
It is still another object of the present invention to provide such a pushing tool which will break apart when placed in substantial tensile loading so that the tool will not draw a worker hand into the wood chipper apparatus if the tool is suddenly caught and pulled into the plant waste fragmenting elements.
It is finally an object of the present invention to provide such a pushing tool which is disposable, readily choppable in a wood chipper, biodegradable and highly inexpensive to manufacture.
The present invention accomplishes the above-stated objectives, as well as others, as may be determined by a fair reading and interpretation of the entire specification.
A pushing tool is provided for manually pushing plant waste into a plant waste receiving hopper of a wood chipper apparatus, including an elongate member having a member first end for gripping by hand and having a member second end of at least one and one half times the cross-sectional area of the member first end for abutting and pushing plant waste into a plant waste receiving hopper constructed to fracture when subjected to tensile force in excess of five pounds, for preventing the elongate member from pulling a worker hand into the plant waste fragmenting elements.
A plant waste disposal system is further provided, including a wood chipper apparatus having plant waste fragmenting elements and having a plant waste receiving hopper; an elongate push member having a member first end for gripping by hand and having a member second end of at least one and one half times the cross-sectional area of the member first end for abutting and pushing plant waste into the plant waste receiving hopper. The elongate push member preferably is formed of tool material which is biodegradable. The elongate member preferably is constructed to fracture when subjected to tensile force in excess of five pounds, for preventing the elongate member from pulling a worker hand into the plant waste fragmenting elements. The elongate member preferably is constructed of tool material which is sufficiently soft and fragile that the wood chipper apparatus can fragment the elongate member without damage to the plant waste fragmenting elements.
The elongate member optionally is shaped as a hollow frusticone having a narrower end defining the member first end for hand gripping and a wider end defining the member second end for broadly bearing against plant waste and pushing the waste into the plant waste receiving hopper. The elongate member optionally has a cross-sectional shape which is substantially one of: elliptical and triangular and rectangular. The member first end optionally is a shaft of substantially uniform cross-section and the member second end optionally flares outwardly from the member first end to define a hollow and open based pyramid.
The elongate member optionally is substantially planar and optionally has a member first end of substantially continuous first end cross-section, has a member middle segment of substantially continuous rectangular cross-section which is wider than the first end cross-section, optionally and has a member second end including a broad region having generally rectangular opposing faces and a second end distal edge including a series of teeth for engaging plant waste to help the worker guide the plant waste into the plant waste receiving hopper. The broad region optionally flares progressively outwardly from the member first end to define substantially triangular opposing faces, the widest portion of the broad region being located at the second end distal edge for broadly abutting and pushing plant waste.
The elongate member optionally includes a member first end in the form of a smaller diameter first tube segment having a first tube segment proximal end and a first tube segment distal end, and a member second end in the form of a larger diameter second tube segment having a second tube segment proximal end axially joined to the first tube segment distal end and having a second tube segment distal end. The first tube segment preferably has a cross-section which is substantially one of: circular and elliptical. The second tube segment preferably has a cross-section which is substantially one of: circular and elliptical. This plant waste disposal system preferably additionally includes several substantially mutually parallel and laterally abutting filler tubes extending substantially parallel to the elongate member and contained within the second tube segment, for increasing the compressive strength and buckling limit of the second tube segment. The plant waste disposal system preferably still additionally includes several mutually parallel and abutting filler tubes extending parallel to the elongate member and contained within the first tube segment, for increasing the compressive strength and buckling limit of the first tube segment.
The elongate member preferably is formed of at least one of: cardboard, compressed pulp, compressed paper, layered wood, compressed wood, wood fiber, biodegradable plastic sheets, rolled paper, layered paper and drywall material.
The first tube segment distal end preferably is releasibly joined to the second tube segment proximal end so that compressive force borne by the second tube segment is directly transmitted into the first tube segment, and a tensile force in excess of five pounds causes the first tube segment to break away from the second tube segment upon the second tube segment becoming caught in the plant waste fragmenting elements while the first tube segment is gripped by a worker wood.